Chapter 59

Upon hearing Ji Xiaonian’s concerned voice coming from the phone, Ji Yun chuckled as if consoling Xiaonian before continuing, “Aunty’s ailments are acting up again. Due to Aunty’s rheumatoid arthritis, it’s inconvenient for Aunty to move around, which is part of the reason Aunty hasn’t visited you recently. My dear Xiaonian, why don’t you come over to Aunty’s house? Aunty misses you a lot.”

Hearing how terrible Aunty’s ailment had sounded, Ji Xiaonian answered without a moment of hesitation, “Okay, I’ll be over right away, Aunty.”

With that, she pushed back her chair and stood up.

However, something suddenly crossed her mind, and after taking a few steps forward, she suddenly stopped.

‘Should I be going to the Bai Residence now?’

‘What if I encounter Bai Yan?’

After all, she had vehemently stated that she would never appear in front of him again.

She had to keep her words, otherwise, she would lose her dignity.

With the phone still in her hand, Ji Xiaonian asked, “Umm… Aunty is… Is Bai Yan at home?”

‘I won’t go if he’s there.’

‘I’ve already made a promise not to show myself in front of him, and I intend to keep it. I, Ji Xiaonian, would never go back on my promises.’

Ji Yun lapsed into thought for a moment while still holding onto her phone.

‘This little girl, didn’t she used to address Lil Bai as Brother Yan?’

‘Why did she suddenly change the way she addressed him?’

‘Plus, she didn’t sound pleased.’

‘Did something happen between the two of them?’

In order to trick Ji Xiaonian over, Ji Yun was forced to continue lying, “My dear Xiaonian, I don’t know what’s up with Lil Bai lately. He’s constantly out of the house, and it’s been a few days since he last returned. Your Aunty is bored out of her mind, you know? So, if you wouldn’t mind, could you come over and chat with Aunty?”

Once she heard Aunty mentioning that Bai Yan was absent, Ji Xiaonian then heaved a sigh of relief. She then hurriedly responded, “Alright. Aunty, just sit tight for a moment. I’ll be there in a jiffy.”

After hanging up on the phone, Ji Xiaonian’s eyes landed on the delicacies spread across the dining table. Upon realizing that those were precious gourmets that could not be bought with money, she then decided to pack up some of them for Aunty to try out.

‘I bet Aunty will love it!’

Ji Xiaonian kept her phone and headed to the kitchen to get some food containers. Noticing that Yu Shengjie was still in the middle of baking something, she then giggled and asked, “That smells really good. What are you baking?”

Yu Shengjie turned his head around and spotted the girl. He then ruffled her hair and answered with a smile, “I’m making cookies. I’ll be done soon, hold on.”

Under the scintillating lights of the kitchen, and with his apron wrapped around him, Yu Shengjie looked incredibly dashing, to the extent that he had given off an aura of warmth.

She had never felt this way in the past, but at that moment, Ji Xiaonian felt an odd sense of security when she stood beside him. It was something that she had never experienced before, but it was the bliss that came from having a family.

‘The bliss of having a family?’

Ever since her parents had died, the only times where Ji Xiaonian could experience a semblance of this bliss was when she was at the Bai Residence.

However, when she saw how Yu Shengjie was making all these meals for her, she was suddenly filled with familial warmth.

It was a fantastic feeling.

After recollecting her thoughts, Ji Xiaonian then chirped, “Sister Shengjie, I’m going to give Aunty a visit. You’ve made plenty of food for me, and there’s no way I’ll be able to finish it, so, would you mind if I pack up some of them for Aunty to try out?”

Yu Shengjie opened the oven door, and he then gracefully pulled out the tray of freshly baked cookies. While filling up the containers, he asked, “Your aunty? Which aunty? Plus, it’s getting pretty late, I’ll worry if you head out alone. Do you want me to accompany you there?”

“Huh?”

“If not, then how would I know what you’ll do to my cookies? Maybe you’ll toss them away!”

“How could I ever bring myself to throw away something this delicious? Alright, I’ll bring you along with me!”

‘Since Bai Yan’s not at home, it’s a pretty nice opportunity to introduce Yu Shengjie to Aunty as well. Maybe, in the future, Yu Shengjie could take my place in accompanying Uncle and Aunty whenever I’m not at home!’

Upon hearing the girl’s approval, Yu Shengjie then shot a sidelong glance at her and gave her a light-hearted smile.

After packing up various sweets and cookies, the two then headed out.

The two had chatted plenty along the way, and to ordinary bystanders, the two had probably looked like a couple!

After all, not only was the man tall and handsome, there was a sense of warmth to him as well. Moreover, the smile that he wore was capable of melting the heart of any woman.

On the other hand, although the girl was not all that tall, she was still pretty good-looking.

When the two stood together, they had, quite literally, painted the picture of the idiom, ‘a match made in heaven’. No matter how one looked at them, they still looked like they were meant for one another.

Soon after, they arrived at the Bai Residence. Ji Xiaonian then went ahead and pressed on the doorbell.

Before long, the housemaid opened the door, and while she stood there, she gave Ji Xiaonian a friendly smile. “Oh, it’s Lady Xiaonian! Please, come in.”

“Okay.” Ji Xiaonian beamed and bowed to the old nursemaid. Subsequently, she then motioned for Yu Shengjie to follow her.

The two had arrived at the Bai Residence’s living room, and within it, sat Ji Yun. Upon noticing her, the housemaid then shouted, “Madam, Lady Xiaonian has arrived.”

Ji Yun turned her head around at those words. Realizing that Ji Xiaonian had actually come, she then excitedly ran up to her and hugged her. “Xiaonian, you’ve finally arrived! Aunty misses you so much! Hurry up and grab a seat!”

“…”

Ji Xiaonian cast a suspicious glance at Ji Yun’s legs as she was dragged by Ji Yun to the sofa.

‘Aunty’s complexion looks perfectly fine to me. Is she really sick?’

‘Plus, she walked pretty normally earlier.’

‘That’s weird, why did Aunty pretend to be sick?’

“What’s that you’re holding in your hand, Xiaonian? It smells really good!”

Back when Ji Yun was younger, she had used to be a foodie. However, now that she was old, she needed to watch her diet. With a top tier master chef from France and a personal nutritionist at home, there was a lot of food that Ji Yun could no longer lay her hands on.

However, once she smelled the fragrance coming from the cookies, Ji Yun’s tummy grumbled.

Ji Xiaonian hurriedly opened up the container and handed over one of the sweets to Ji Yun. “Aunty, this tastes amazing. I purposely brought it over for you, so, why don’t you give it a taste?”

While she spoke, Ji Xiaonian pointed at Yu Shengjie who had been ignored by Ji Yun and added, “Aunty, he’s the person responsible for all these sweets. Let me tell you, he’s amazing. He knows how to cook plenty of stuff, and all of his dishes taste incredible!”

Ji Yun stuffed the cookie into her mouth before following the direction Ji Xiaonian’s finger had pointed at.

Initially, Ji Yun’s expression was neutral. However, upon a closer look at Yu Shengjie’s face, Ji Yun froze as if she was struck by lightning, and her face was blanched a pale white.

Yu Shengjie turned to look at Ji Yun as well. He then took after Ji Xiaonian’s lead and politely greeted, “Hello, Aunty.”

However, Yu Shengjie’s words had gone unheard by Ji Yun, and she continued to stare at Yu Shengjie with a stiff expression.

It was to the extent that Yu Shengjie was starting to feel awkward.

Ji Xiaonian had found it odd as well. ‘Why’s Aunty staring at Yu Shengjie like that? Plus, she doesn’t look like she’s appreciating his looks. It’s more like shock; as if seeing Shengjie has triggered some sort of memory in her.’

‘That’s weird. Yu Shengjie has never come here before. So, logically speaking, Aunty shouldn’t recognize him.’

‘In that case, what’s the explanation for this weird reaction of hers?’

“Aunty. Aunty?” Ji Xiaonian grabbed Ji Yun’s arms and shouted.

Upon snapping back to reality, Ji Yun averted Yu Shengjie’s gaze and panickedly turned to look at Ji Xiaonian. In a breathless voice, she asked, “What did you just say? X-Xiaonian, th-this man… He’s…”